The US Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Program web site is a very large, detailed site covering earthquakes listed by magnitude within the last two hours, weeks, and months. There are also quick links to FAQ's and education information about earthquakes. Google Earth files, map data and seismic information are additionally included. The links to various maps are by Earthquake Location, Historical Seismicity, Seismic Hazard Map, and EQ Density Map. The information provided on the website is from the USGS subsection Earthquake Hazards Program. As this is a government web site, there are no licenses needed.
The navigation bars at the top of the page direct the user to different areas labelled Earthquake Center, Regional Information about Earthquakes, Research and Monitoring, and Other Resources. The web site colours are very pleasing with a good balance of text and graphics. All the links are current and in working order. The top right of each page has links to three areas labelled USGS Home, Contact USGS, and Search USGS for questions and further help. The site does not contain a search engine, but there are a multitude of links containing information. The user selects the tabs on the top of the page for the area in which they are interested then continues through the various links finding the information needed.
The Earthquake Center lists by World Lists, USA Lists, World Regional Maps, and USA Regional Maps. It also provides volcano and tsunami links. Regional Information lists USA earthquake Information by State, world earthquake information by Country/Region, and projects with Regional‐Based Information. About Earthquakes contains earthquake facts, trivia, FAQs, earthquake history, and geologic definitions for terms. Educational Topics has a section for elementary through college levels and a separate section with ideas for Science Fair with games and photographs. There is another special section for teachers. The section Resources contains photograph collections, animations, publications and links to many other materials for preparedness and response. Research and Monitoring contains information for research including faults and new data about how earthquake shaking can affect man‐made structures. The earthquake monitoring has near‐real‐time monitoring of earthquakes using ANSS (Advanced National Seismic System) in the United States, and the world through GSN (Global Seismographic Network). Through these various monitoring networks there is raw and processed data and a variety of software for earthquake‐related research. In Other Resources there are links to tsunami web sites, other USGS hazards, preparedness and response, products and publications, and photograph collections and USGS videos/animations.
The USGS Earthquake Hazards Program is a government web site with all the links to and through a multitude of other government agencies. In the Other Resources section are links to other non‐governmental web sites. I highly recommend this web site for earthquake information. It also contains very good information for volcanos and tsunamis with links to more resources and education information.
